


You Can't Kill Fear

by Shahdar



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012), rise of the guardians
Genre: Angst, Blood, Blood and Gore, Dark, Dark Character, Dark!Jack Frost - Freeform, M/M, Mild Gore, Non-Graphic Violence, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-11
Updated: 2013-11-26
Packaged: 2018-01-01 04:51:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 17,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1040540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shahdar/pseuds/Shahdar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>EDIT: I accidentally tagged it M/M, and for some reason it won't be removed. Sorry about that. It ISN'T M/M. Fail me.</p><p>The Guardians thought they had gotten rid of their enemy... But they had only made it worse. It seems he's come back, with a bigger bite.<br/>Pitch has Jack, what can the Guardians do to save him? It's not as easy as it seems, and it certainly is more painful than it seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pitch Black

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: I accidentally tagged it M/M, and for some reason it won't be removed. Sorry about that. It ISN'T M/M. Fail me.
> 
> This is my first ever fanfiction of anything! I first posted it on Fanfiction.Net, which can be found here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9347655/1/You-Can-t-Kill-Fear

The man heaved himself up, breathing heavily. It felt as though he had been lying in wherever the hell he was for centuries. Yet in reality, it had only been a week. A week since his downfall. Or so he thought. His vision was foggy and he felt dizzy. His senses were all messed up and he was surrounded by darkness. The only light came from a small hole above him, and he shied away from it, as if it would burn him.

His surroundings had a very earthy smell, as if he were underground. The light from the hole above was silver, like that of the moon.

The man could feel sensations running up and down his spine, over his arms and hands. It felt familiar... Like sand. He paused, waiting for his mind to clear. He held up his hands so that the light reflected on them and he could see. His amber eyes widened in surprise as he looked at his hands. Black sand that sparkled like the galaxy was running over them. It was none other than Nightmare sand.

Shocked and confused, the man raked his mind for an answer. How could this be? He was gone, dead, deceased. Yet here he was, alive and awake, unhurt. The sand held the answer. Fear was the answer. He knew what had happened after seeing the Nightmare sand running up and down, over his hands.

You know the phrase people use when they get knocked down, 'the breath was knocked out of him'? Well, in this case, the light was knocked out of him. The Guardians had thought they were rid of Pitch Black, but unknown to them did they just make their problem worse. Pitch Black could now live up to his name. Any light he originally had left him in, was literally knocked out of him.

When his fearlings had attacked him after the Guardians had defeated him, Pitch's blood infused with them. Instead of being swallowed up by the fear, it merged with his soul. Now from controlling fear, he was made of fear. He was fear itself.

And of course to Pitch, this was great news... But certainly not to the Guardians. With new power, comes revenge. And that was exactly what Pitch was going to get.


	2. Captured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one knows Pitch is back, but Jack finds out soon enough. But it isn't pleasant.
> 
> WARNING: Torture and non-graphic violence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Torture and non-graphic violence

A cold breeze blew and the laughter of children could be heard. "Haha! Snow day!" A tall boy called out enthusiastically as he flew by. Yes, flew. He landed gracefully, only with a soft thud as the snow muffled the sound of his bare feet landing on the ground. His snow white hair stopped above his ice blue eyes. He was none other than Jack Frost.

He created snow with his long wooden staff, laughing as he watched the children play with a carefree expression. It seemed like things had gone back to normal since their Pitch problems. He had gone back to the life he had lived for three hundred years. Yet he was now a Guardian and had proper responsibilities. Although that didn't stop him from having fun.

Little did he know that he was being watched by the one problem he thought they had defeated.

At the edge of the forest, Pitch Black waited, watching, a sly smile on his face. His face was in shadow but the malice in his yellow eyes was enough to show his anticipation. Jack was right where he wanted him, the stupid boy would be too preoccupied to even notice the shadow approach him when it did.

It was time to strike. His time for revenge, sweet sweet revenge.

A long shadow approached the boy from behind. Jack was just leaning on a lamp-post, watching the children play with a smirk on his face. A man formed from the shadow, towering over the boy. Pitch wore a smirk of his own and he whispered chillingly into Jack's ear, "Ah, Jack Frost, it's a pleasure to see you again," And with a soft manic laugh, strands of Nightmare sand that emerged from his hands soon engulfed Jack. Nothing Jack could do could free him from Pitch's grasp. He didn't even have time to react, before he was forced into depths of darkness.

Jack awoke, blinking rapidly. The last thing he remembered was being 'sucked' into darkness and a voice. A very familiar voice. How was it possible? He thought to himself. Pitch was gone! Yet he could've sworn that he had heard Pitch's voice. This must be a nightmare. Yet, if it was, that would mean Pitch had sent it, right?

He stood, up fumbling about, feeling the area around him for his staff. Yet it was nowhere to be found. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he found he was in a small room, much like a jail cell, as instead of a door, were bars. He started to panic, his memory of when he first woke up, alone and surrounded by darkness soon hit him. Now all he could see was the water, but this time, no moon to comfort him, no light, no hope.

No, you're Jack Frost! A Guardian! Of course there is hope. How can you give up so easily? He scolded himself. He stood up, looking about for any means of escape. So far, it seemed impossible.

"Ah, Jack frost," Pitch said, suddenly emerging from a shadow, stopping Jack abruptly in his tracks, surprising him. He held an expression filled with evil, a sadistic smile on his face. His hand stroked Jack's cheek in quite a creepy way. Jack slapped Pitch's hand away, jumping back, scowling at Pitch, his eyebrows creasing angrily. Pitch raised an eyebrow as if he were surprised, still not speaking though.

"What do you want? You're supposed to be gone!" Jack barked at him, not as scared as one would expect whence facing Pitch. He used to be scared of Pitch, but now he knew what Pitch depended on. Little did he know that things had changed.

Pitch gave a menacing laugh, repeating something he had once said to Jack, "You can't kill fear, Jack. You see, you all thought the fearlings had ended me, killed me, defeated me, but in reality, they just made me stronger," As he said this, he was toying with some Nightmare sand, running it up and down his hand through his fingers. It looked like a liquid. He was showing off his newly earned skills. "And of course, I want my revenge. And I will get it. Starting with you. Scared yet?"

Somehow, the way Pitch talked and acted was different to Jack, his control over the sand had obviously improved, and he seemed much more menacing in general. This made Jack feel uneasy. And the thought of what Pitch might do made him feel uneasy as well. He knew Pitch wouldn't hesitate to kill someone, he'd done that with Sandy, and he could that to Jack right now, but keeping him locked up and vulnerable, without his staff...

"What do you want?" Jack shouted, an expression of hate and disgust on his face. His words didn't come out as confidently as he'd hoped.

Pitch threw his head back with a wicked laugh. "Killing you would be no fun. I have you tied up and vulnerable, oh the possibilities!"

"Tied u- ah!" Jack yelped as he was suddenly pulled back to the wall by chains that emerged from nowhere. They were made from Nightmare sand, of course, but that didn't mean they weren't sturdy. It was with such force that it made a sharp bolt of pain go through Jack's head.

Guardians and immortals were not easily hurt, being tougher than mortals, so that blow to Jack's head, even though it hurt, was nothing compared to what was to come, and all Jack could do was watch helplessly as he watched Pitch approach him...


	3. Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor poor Jack, it seems that Pitch is having too much fun. But it doesn't seem like Jack was having fun.
> 
> WARNING: Contains torture and mild gore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Contains torture and mild gore

Jack was truly scared now. He struggled, and the mere sounds of the chains clanking added to his trauma. He tried to wrench his bound hands away but they just hur more. He stared into Pitch's evil eyes, already having broke into a cold sweat.

"Oh don't bother, it's impossible, you'll just make it worse. Of course, I don't mind," Pitch said calmly. The chains tightened around Jack's ankles and wrists at Pitch's silent command. Jack didn't dare make a sound. He could be helpless, but he still had his dignity.

Pitch towered over Jack, licking his lips as if he were hungry and Jack was a fresh hot meal, fit for a king. "We're going to have so much fun, you and me," Pitch whispered. Behind his back, he had created a knife, constructed purely from Nightmare sand, and his long slender fingers clenched around it.

Jack eyed Pitch, fear in his eyes but he was too proud to even ask for a chance. Pitch held the knife against Jack's arm, barely touching the fabric of Jack's blue frost-covered hoodie.

Bunnymund was hopping through the bushes in Burgess, keeping an eye out for his back. Jack was known to sneak up on him and give him an unpleasant surprise. Something fishy was going on, because the earlier snow day had ceased and he hadn't seen Jack the whole day. That meant that Jack was probably planning something, or bugging either North, Tooth or Sandy at their respective homes.

It was already afternoon and Bunny had returned to his Warren, safe from any of Jack's pranks. He had a nagging feeling that something was wrong but he'd pushed that feeling to the back of his head the whole day. by now, he thought since he had free time, he might as well check. Who knows what kind of trouble that kid could have gotten into?

In less than five minutes, with merely a double tap of his right foot, he was hopping through the snow to the Pole. When he finally reached the pole, he was freezing and shook off the snow. He was directed to North's office by some Yetis and he waited patiently outside North's office. He occupied himself by painting the last details of an Easter egg whist waiting, when North suddenly opened the door with a loud and jolly call of surprise, "Bunny!"

Bunny yelped as he nearly dropped his egg, shoving it into his pouch, giving an annoyed look to North, before finally saying what he was there for. "'Ave yer seen Jack?" He asked with his Australian accent. The large Russian man's features turned into a different type of surprise, less jolly, at least. "It's not like you to be concerned over Jack," North said, half joking. Bunny butted in quickly, "I know! 'S just that I 'aven't seen the guy, 'e usually sneaks up on me, pulling a nasty prank, the little bugger."

North pondered over the situation, saying, "Well, I haven't seen him."

"It's not even snowing, down in Burgess."

"Well, Burgess isn't the only place with winter. But you have a point. Maybe Tooth has him held up, you know her."

"Maybe." Bunny replied, disbelievingly.

Meanwhile, back in Jack's little 'prison'...

"Oh Jack, it's a pity your little friends can' be here to see this," Pitch said, his tone was quiet, but still reeked of evil. The knife he held onto pierced through Jack's sleeve, hitting flesh. Pitch didn't even have to press hard as it cut through Jack's skin. Jack winced, but he held a straight face, not making a sound, no matter how tempting, he knew it would be for nothing.

"I wonder if those Guardians," he said the word as if it were a bitter lemon, "Even care that you're here. Whether they even noticed you're gone. I doubt that little Bunny would even care to rescue you."

Jack cringed, the words hurt as much as the knife, which was now being dragged down his arm, to his wrist. Jack never had been showed much affection or attention through his three hundred years of living, and it was only a week ago had he met the Guardians properly, so he still felt quite alone and uncared for. This meant that he was easily hurt.

Blood now poured out from the long cut, it was deep, and his whole left sleeve was almost stained with bright red blood. Pitch had his eyes glued to Jack's this whole time but he looked at the knife for a second, taking it away from jack's skin. Jack could've sworn he saw Pitch's eyes light up at the sight of the blood and his eyes burned with rage. That wasn't the only thing that burned, though. The cut burned, it felt like it was on fire, yet it was countered by the cool wetness of his hoodie sleeve,which was wet with blood.

"Nothing to say? So is this how it's going to be, then? You stare at me, I stare at you? Ohoho! That's no fun Jack! And you should know. You are the Guardian of fun, are you not?" Pitch said wickedly. Jack just continued staring back at him, confident in disobeying Pitch's order. "Oh, how hurtful, how can we be friends if you won't listen to me?" Pitch said, feigning hurt.

"I would never in my life want to be your friend, "Jack spat.

"Why not? We have so much in common. No one belie-" Pitch was cut off as Jack retorted.

"Some children believe in me!"

"Some children." Pitch smiled as Jack couldn't think of anything to say. Was that a tear about to form? "Looks like I hit a soft spot. I'm sorry deary, but you can't hide from the truth. Nobody needs you. if they did, you wouldn't be here."


	4. Backup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can Jack be saved? Is it too late? Does Jack even want to be saved? How will the Guardians deal with this? Why am I asking so many darn questions? Why don't you just read the chapter?
> 
> Alright, kidding, your questions will be answered xD
> 
> WARNING: Contains torture and mild gore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Contains torture and mild gore

Jack didn't say anything to Pitch as he taunted him, toying with his feelings. He was on the verge of breakdown already, Pitch's words really got to him. Some say actions speak louder than words, but in this case, it was the other way around.

Pitch broke into another bout of manic laughter, his head shooting back and his wicked cackling echoed through his lair. He really did seem much crazier, or even, possessed. He still held the knife, tight in his hands, so tight you could see his knuckles, of course it was too dark for that, though. Yet he had not need knife anymore, so he made it vanish into a puff of Nightmare sand.

He lifted his foot, unnoticed to Jack, before bringing it down, hard, onto Jack's bare left foot. Jack, being unprepared and surprised, screamed out in pain as he felt Pitch putting all of his weight onto his foot. It seemed impossible that such a slender person could bear so much weight, but it wasn't like Jack was the most muscular boy around.

Bunny emerged from his tunnel, finding himself at Tooth's Palace. A few Baby Tooth Fairies flitted past him in a hurry, until one actually noticed him. He asked for Tooth so the Fairy immediately flew to where Tooth was hovering, checking the organisation of the area. When Tooth heard that Bunny was looking for her, she stopped what she was doing and flew down to him donning a curious expression. "What is it, Bunny?" She asked.

"'Ave yer seen Jack? I 'aven't seen 'im, nor 'as North," Bunny said. Tooth laughed, "Oh Bunny, always so paranoid, I'm sure he's just playing around, nothing to worry about!" She thought it was a joke, but there was nothing funny on Bunnymund's face. Bunnymund just stared at Tooth, an eyebrow raised, waiting for her to realise this was no laughing matter.

Tooth looked down, cheeks red, "You're serious, okay..." Her head suddenly shot up, and her wings started flapping almost twice it's usual speed, "Then we must find him! Oh if anything happened to h-" Tooth was cut-off as Bunny told her to calm down. They were to find him, but planned out and organised, not just flying, or hopping, about aimlessly.

"We must set off immediately!"

"What about North?"

"The two of us are enough!"

"If things get serious, I'm getting 'im, but we may just be overreacting. Better safe than sorry, though mate."

With that, the two set off to Burgess, the one place they knew Jack would usually be.

Jack had his head hung, he was fighting a losing battle with himself, he could just easily cry for mercy that instant, but he was too proud for that. "You know it's very impolite to look away when someone is talking to you," Pitch said striking a blow to Jacks face, from under his chin, pushing Jack's head back to hit the wall. This caused Jack to shut his eyes tightly, trying to maintain the pain as it shot through Jack's head.

"Oh how pathetic you look," Pitch said in a very sadistic way, a smile still plastered on his face. He surveyed his 'work'. Jack's left arm was still gushing with blood, it dripped down his fingertips, and his left foot had already got a purple shade, bruised badly. It was clear that his head was bleeding because the blood showed so clearly in contrast to his snow white hair. He looked paler than he already was, the loss of blood already taking effect on him. With all this, Pitch still wasn't satisfied.

Pitch allowed the chains to vanish and Jack immediately dropped to the ground, coughing up blood. He could barely support his own weight with his one arm that was still unwounded. "Oh that won't do. Stand up!" Pitch ordered, his voice ringing in Jack's ears, causing him a headache. Jack struggled to stand up, failing once, before steadying himself on the wall, his back to Pitch. He knew if he didn't comply, things would get much worse. Horribly worse.

Bunny and Tooth had arrived at Burgess. It was cold, but it wasn't snowing, so there weren't very many children out. This was a good thing and yet a bad thing. It was good because they wouldn't need to be disturbed by loud children playing and seeing them, but bad because it meant that Jack wasn't there.

They set off in different directions, searching for any sign of Jack or anything off. They didn't call out, for it would attract unwanted attention. After awhile of looking and finding nothing, Bunny saw Tooth stop at a lamp post. He hopped over, her wings were drooped and she was looking at something in her hands.

"Tooth?" Bunny asked, until he saw what she was looking at.

In her hand, apart from snow, were a few specks of Nightmare sand.

"What? No, this can't be! We all saw him get pulled down with 'is own fears! 'Ow can this 'appen?" Bunny exclaimed, rather confused and worried. Tooth still silently stared at the sand, before saying softly as something dawned on her.

"Pitch has Jack... Pitch could kill him... We can't... Bunny! We can't let Pitch hurt him! We have to find him!" Tooth said, getting louder and more panicked when she addressed Bunny.

"We 'ave to tell North and sandy, warn 'em."

"No, there's no time! You go, I'll-"

"No, then he'll 'ave you vulnerable."

Tooth sighed, Bunny was right. They had to warn the others and get their help. Yet she just couldn't push away the thought that anything could happen to Jack while they found North and Sandy.

"Don't worry, Jack won't give in easily, we'll find North an' Sandy in no time."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about." Tooth said, referring to Jack not giving in, before following Bunny to gather North and Sandy.


	5. Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Guardians are slow in helping Jack out. Jack's already so beaten up. Can it get any worse? That's not possible... Right?
> 
> WARNING: Contains more torture, and mild gore. Lalala, me and my sadistic mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Torture and mild gore. Must I always say this? Yes? Okay. >

Jack didn't say anything to Pitch as he taunted him, toying with his feelings. He was on the verge of breakdown already, Pitch's words really got to him. Some say actions speak louder than words, but in this case, it was the other way around.

Pitch broke into another bout of manic laughter, his head shooting back and his wicked cackling echoed through his lair. He really did seem much crazier, or even, possessed. He still held the knife, tight in his hands, so tight you could see his knuckles, of course it was too dark for that, though. Yet he had not need knife anymore, so he made it vanish into a puff of Nightmare sand.

He lifted his foot, unnoticed to Jack, before bringing it down, hard, onto Jack's bare left foot. Jack, being unprepared and surprised, screamed out in pain as he felt Pitch putting all of his weight onto his foot. It seemed impossible that such a slender person could bear so much weight, but it wasn't like Jack was the most muscular boy around.

Bunny emerged from his tunnel, finding himself at Tooth's Palace. A few Baby Tooth Fairies flitted past him in a hurry, until one actually noticed him. He asked for Tooth so the Fairy immediately flew to where Tooth was hovering, checking the organisation of the area. When Tooth heard that Bunny was looking for her, she stopped what she was doing and flew down to him donning a curious expression. "What is it, Bunny?" She asked.

"'Ave yer seen Jack? I 'aven't seen 'im, nor 'as North," Bunny said. Tooth laughed, "Oh Bunny, always so paranoid, I'm sure he's just playing around, nothing to worry about!" She thought it was a joke, but there was nothing funny on Bunnymund's face. Bunnymund just stared at Tooth, an eyebrow raised, waiting for her to realise this was no laughing matter.

Tooth looked down, cheeks red, "You're serious, okay..." Her head suddenly shot up, and her wings started flapping almost twice it's usual speed, "Then we must find him! Oh if anything happened to h-" Tooth was cut-off as Bunny told her to calm down. They were to find him, but planned out and organised, not just flying, or hopping, about aimlessly.

"We must set off immediately!"

"What about North?"

"The two of us are enough!"

"If things get serious, I'm getting 'im, but we may just be overreacting. Better safe than sorry, though mate."

With that, the two set off to Burgess, the one place they knew Jack would usually be.

Jack had his head hung, he was fighting a losing battle with himself, he could just easily cry for mercy that instant, but he was too proud for that. "You know it's very impolite to look away when someone is talking to you," Pitch said striking a blow to Jacks face, from under his chin, pushing Jack's head back to hit the wall. This caused Jack to shut his eyes tightly, trying to maintain the pain as it shot through Jack's head.

"Oh how pathetic you look," Pitch said in a very sadistic way, a smile still plastered on his face. He surveyed his 'work'. Jack's left arm was still gushing with blood, it dripped down his fingertips, and his left foot had already got a purple shade, bruised badly. It was clear that his head was bleeding because the blood showed so clearly in contrast to his snow white hair. He looked paler than he already was, the loss of blood already taking effect on him. With all this, Pitch still wasn't satisfied.

Pitch allowed the chains to vanish and Jack immediately dropped to the ground, coughing up blood. He could barely support his own weight with his one arm that was still unwounded. "Oh that won't do. Stand up!" Pitch ordered, his voice ringing in Jack's ears, causing him a headache. Jack struggled to stand up, failing once, before steadying himself on the wall, his back to Pitch. He knew if he didn't comply, things would get much worse. Horribly worse.

Bunny and Tooth had arrived at Burgess. It was cold, but it wasn't snowing, so there weren't very many children out. This was a good thing and yet a bad thing. It was good because they wouldn't need to be disturbed by loud children playing and seeing them, but bad because it meant that Jack wasn't there.

They set off in different directions, searching for any sign of Jack or anything off. They didn't call out, for it would attract unwanted attention. After awhile of looking and finding nothing, Bunny saw Tooth stop at a lamp post. He hopped over, her wings were drooped and she was looking at something in her hands.

"Tooth?" Bunny asked, until he saw what she was looking at.

In her hand, apart from snow, were a few specks of Nightmare sand.

"What? No, this can't be! We all saw him get pulled down with 'is own fears! 'Ow can this 'appen?" Bunny exclaimed, rather confused and worried. Tooth still silently stared at the sand, before saying softly as something dawned on her.

"Pitch has Jack... Pitch could kill him... We can't... Bunny! We can't let Pitch hurt him! We have to find him!" Tooth said, getting louder and more panicked when she addressed Bunny.

"We 'ave to tell North and sandy, warn 'em."

"No, there's no time! You go, I'll-"

"No, then he'll 'ave you vulnerable."

Tooth sighed, Bunny was right. They had to warn the others and get their help. Yet she just couldn't push away the thought that anything could happen to Jack while they found North and Sandy.

"Don't worry, Jack won't give in easily, we'll find North an' Sandy in no time."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about." Tooth said, referring to Jack not giving in, before following Bunny to gather North and Sandy.


	6. False Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, seems like Tooth's made a bad choice in doing what she's done. Pitch never does stop, does he?
> 
> WARNING: Contains more torture and mild gore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Contains more torture and mild gore.

As Tooth flew to the Pole, Bunny had split up to find Sandy. She was flying at full speed to the Pole, bugging a Yeti so much until it stopped what it was doing and helped her get North. Bunny and Tooth had agreed to meet in the forest that was next to the small village in Burgess, next to a lake. She soon grew impatient of waiting for North, though and just shouted through the door for North to find Bunny in Burgess.

She knew Bunny would hate her for this but she already felt guilty for leaving this for so long. Without waiting for a reply from North, she whizzed out of the Pole and into the direction of the town of Burgess, headed for where she thought Pitch might be, in the hole where he disappeared in, his old lair. She hoped he was there, so that he could easily be found.

When she found the hole, she peered into it, her eyes adjusting slowly to the darkness. She hesitated, before slowly flying in. It was cold, dark and very uninviting. Then suddenly, a sound that sent chills down her spine, making her stop in the air and land softly on the ground, echoed through the lair. The deafening scream of pain and agony, from a voice already sore from shouting, from a person she knew but hoped for the best wasn't who she thought.

Tooth felt very scared then, and lonely. How she wished she had just waited for Bunny and the others. Yet it was too late to stop now.

However, what she didn't know was that two pairs of yellow eyes were watching her intently.

Jack braced himself for another strike to the back, but to his surprise, there wasn't one. He heard some shuffling, and turned his head, dreading what he was about to see. How much more would Pitch torture him? How many more ways were possible? Yet Pitch didn't create any new weapon. He was talking to a fearling. He saw Pitch's teeth glint in the little light there was, his smile vicious.

"I'm afraid I'll have to leave you for a moment, dear Jack, Don't worry, there's no need to miss me, I won't be long," He said, before leaving the cell, it's bars closing behind him. The fearling gave a hungry look to Jack, before it was called away by it's master.

All Jack could do then was sigh. He didn't know what to expect, whether this was good or bad. If it meant rest, though, he would take it. His wounds burned like fire, nothing a winter-spirit like him should go through. Nothing anyone should go through. Jack tried hard to stop the tears, but he felt himself losing consciousness. He gave in to it, he knew these few moments of rest would not last long, so he savoured it.

"Ah, Toothiana!" Pitch called out to the bird-like fairy, clapping his hands together as if they were good friends meeting after a long time. "I love it that you're nice enough to join us!"

"In what?" She spat back wanting none of his nonsense.

"Oh you'll see." He gave a manic laugh as his tentacle-like strands of Nightmare sand caught Tooth by her wrists and ankles, allowing Pitch to have a clear shot. Tooth's eyes widened in fear as she saw Pitch create a bow and aim it straight at her. She screamed and the last thing she remembered was a second of pain in her chest before she blacked out onto the floor. Pitch allowed the Nightmare sand to disperse, before returning to Jack. Pitch had a new plan and it was already being put into action...

He entered Jack's cell, letting the bars close behind him. Jack was awake now, but he didn't know what woke him.

"Had a nice dream? Doubt it," Pitch said, teasing him in a not-so-friendly way.

"Why do you..." Jack tried to speak louder but his throat hurt from the shouting, "Why do you do this...?"

"Because I enjoy it. It gives me something to do apart from being ignored and unseen to the world. I'm sure you know that feeling, don't you?"

"How can you... Enjoy this?!" Jack asked in desperation for an answer.

"Because," Pitch made the chains squeeze his wrists, some of it cutting his skin, "Your fear is delicious, your screams are music, your pain is my pleasure," Pitch said darkly.

Jack cringed at the pain, it really felt bone-crushing, any more force and the chains could seriously hurt him. He thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, but he was wrong.

Pitch took a long stride up to him, laying a hand on Jack's right shoulder. His nails dug into the fabric of his hoodie but not with enough force to pierce it. Jack heaved his head up to look at Pitch questioningly.

During that moment, Pitch's fingernails lengthened, created from Nightmare sand of course. Due to the fact that his fingernails already dug into Jack's shoulder, with it's new length of just less than a foot long, it pierced right into Jack's skin. It dug in deep, causing Jack to let out a loud shout filled with pain and suffering. This was much more painful than the whips. It felt as though someone was ripping his arm right off.

The nails dug in deep, so deep it hit his bone, but didn't break it. Jack continued to scream, and his screams became worse as Pitch forcefully wrenched his arm away, causing more skin to tear. More blood gushed out, more than his other arm. The burning pain was almost too much for Jack, and Jack would have already lost consciousness, if not for the pain. In fact, Jack wished he was unconscious for this.

"You know, after much pondering though, I've decided to let you go," At this, Jack's eyes shot up to Pitch in surprise. He knew he was planning something.

"On one condition," Of course, the usual on-one-condition agreement.

"Which is?" Jack asked, his voice barely heard as he proceeded to cough up more blood. He knew he couldn't survive this ordeal much longer. He'd already lost a lot of blood. He almost wished he could just die.

"You'll see."


	7. Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems that Tooth's gotten herself into quite a bit of a mess. Yet Jack can help her. At a big price, however.
> 
> WARNING: More torture. And mild gore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: More torture. And mild gore.

North had barely heard Tooth's message before he walked out of his office to find her already gone. He abided to her wishes to find Bunny in Burgess, unaware of the seriousness of the situation. He didn't bother with the sleigh though, being only one person, so he just used his snow-globe-portal.

North arrived in Burgess and looked around for Bunny, soon finding him and Sandy looking very impatient, near a lamp post.

"Where's Tooth?" Bunny asked immediately, not bothering with a polite welcome.

"I don't know, I thought she was already here!" North replied.

Bunny suddenly panicked, "Oh that id- She must've gone after 'im without us. Ugh, we 'ave to'urry, quick!"

"What's all this about?" North asked, rather flustered with Bunny's sudden panic.

"Long story short, Pitch has Jack and we 'ave to rescue 'im, and my guess is that Tooth went after 'im 'erself," Bunny said, already hopping off in the direction of where he remembered where Pitch's old lair was.

"Pitch, here, now? We must fight!" North said, determined, following after Bunny. Sandy followed, already having heard the story from Bunny earlier.

Jack fell to the ground, slumped over because this time, he didn't have his arms to support him for a change. They were too weak to even help him up. He tried to push himself up but he failed. Was this what Pitch wanted? For him to drag himself out, probably bleed to death, if possible for a Guardian?

Pitch, getting quite impatient, pulled Jack up roughly, pushing him to the wall so that he wouldn't fall again.

Jack staggered, coughing up a bit more blood, until it hurt to even breath. He slowly stumbled out of the cell, the bars had already been raised. When he slowly shuffled out of the cell, the sight he saw was a shock to him, and something horrible.

There, lying lifeless on the round, was Tooth. Her chest was stained with a mixture of blood and Nightmare sand. Jack fell to his, knees, not wanting to believe this was real. He surveyed Tooth, looking for any sign of life.

Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him, "I can save her. It's not too late, but it'll cost."

Jack froze, his whole body suddenly rigid, the pain was now barely a pulsing pain. His rage at Pitch steered him on, gave him energy. "Why would you... Do this?"

"Because I knew she's dear to you, what better way to hurt someone is there than hurting someone they cared for? Anyway, you can save her. Just give yourself up."

"I don't know what that means but if that saves her, I'll do it," Jack said trying to sound confident.

Pitch smiled, "I'm glad you're so cooperative, dear Jack."

"Why didn't you just do it in the first place? I couldn't do anything and here you give me a choice?"

"It's not very nice to force something on others."

"You're not a nice person, why bother with niceties?"

"What was that?"

Before Jack could reply, he started to cough again, and the hand he covered his mouth with was then stained with blood. Oh gosh, how am I surviving this?

"You save her, let her go, and then I'm... I'm all yours." Jack said after recovering from his bout of coughing.

Pitch smiled, "Good, good.."

And with that, he proceeded to heal Tooth, as Jack watched, slipping away into unconsciousness. When Tooth was healed enough to breath properly, Pitch sent a fearling to lay her down somewhere, somewhere discreet but so that only the Guardians found her.

When Jack awoke, he was back in his cell. He felt horrible, dried blood was everywhere and his back and shoulder still stung like mad. He couldn't be bothered to try to sit up. He was a goner, now. He was 'Pitch's property'' and he could do nothing to protect himself.

He soon saw a huge shadow looming over him, and, to his dismay, recognised the tall and slender figure of Pitch.

"Now, Jack," Pitch said as he bent down, grabbing Jack's hair and pulling him up. This caused a throbbing pain in Jack's head, and Jack groaned in pain. "Since we have so much in common, I'm going to make you like me. I hope you don't mind. It will certainly be much better than the state you are in now. It will be the only thing keeping you alive."

Jack didn't fully understand what Pitch meant, with his thinking still fuzzy, but it was a big shock when Pitch suddenly leaned in and connected his lips with Jack's. However, this kiss was no romantic kiss. Jack screamed hoarsely into Pitch's mouth as he felt something slide down his throat. It burned.

What it actually was was Nightmare sand. The sand was eating away at Jack's soul, turning him into the dark creature Pitch was. The last thought that went through Jack's mind was I'm sorry.

I'm sorry I wasted your time.

I'm sorry I risked your lives.

I'm sorry, now I can't control myself.

I'm sorry, I'm no longer me.

The Jack you know is gone.

I'm sorry I ever existed.


	8. Cages and Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hmmmm... What've the Guardians gotten themselves into? What has Jack gotten himself into? Can they save themselves, and Jack as well?
> 
> I don't know. The story does, though.
> 
> Just kidding, of course I know!
> 
> WARNING: Contains non-graphic violence and torture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Contains non-graphic violence and torture.

North, Bunny and Sandy were peering into the hole, trying to make out anything, but it was too dark. Bunny's ears perked up suddenly, he had heard something. He whipped around with a hostile glare, but it turned into surprise when he realised who it was.

"Tooth! I- We thought you went after Pitch!" Bunny exclaimed. He wore a concerned expression, because Tooth looked rather pale, and she wasn't flying.

"I did," She replied weakly, walking up to the small group. She hung her head, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, but..." She sighed, unsure how to tell them this.

"Don't worry mate, start from the beginning," Bunny said, trying to reassure her.

Tooth told them all of what had happened, every little detail from the start to where she couldn't remember no more.. She was very worried of what had made Jack scream like that. "We need to get down there, quick," She had said, urging them to hurry. Bunny however, was more worried on whether Tooth was okay. Tooth insisted that she was fine, so, one by one, they flew, jumped and hopped into the hole. The only light came from above them, and a dim glow from Sandy.

As their eyes adjusted to the dark, they heard a very familiar voice from behind them.

"Hey guys, miss me?" Came the voice of Jack. If smirks had a sound, that was what it would probably sound like.

Instantly, the Guardians turned to face the voice. It echoed around, and Jack spoke again, "I was wondering when you'd come. You guys sure did take your time," Jack said, his tone carefree. The Guardians still couldn't locate him, the voice seemed to bounce off the walls from every direction. Something felt off, especially with the way Jack was speaking, and an eerie feeling hung in the air.

"Looking for me?" Jack now walked out from the shadows, the Guardians turning to him. What they saw shocked them. Jack didn't look like Jack. His snow-white hair had transformed into a dark black, like the feathers of a raven. His hoodie was no longer blue, it too, was black. It also had a few glints of light, suggesting that it was made of Nightmare sand. And his eyes. They were no longer ice-blue, instead they were an amber yellow, like Pitch's, like the fearlings.

Although what changed the most was Jack's staff. His staff was no longer a long wooden pole with the shape of a 'G' at the top, it was now a scythe, it's blade glinted from the light of the small hole. And where Jack's old wounds were, was Nightmare sand, of course it was mostly covered by his new hoodie by now, though. Yet the bruises and cuts from the chains still showed on his ankles.

They were all speechless, and the silence hung in the air for a moment, until Tooth found her voice and spoke up, "Jack... What... What happened to you?"

"It seems Mister Sandman here has it all figured out," Jack replied, doing acrobatics in the air as if the Guardians weren't worth his time and were boring him. Sandy had a stern expression on his face and when he was referred to, he looked up. His face didn't mean good news.

"I'm a better person now, I'm stronger. The Jack you know is gone," Jack said, a wicked smile on his face.

Then another voice could be heard, it was dreaded by all the Guardians but, in this case, all of them except for Jack.

"Oh it's lovely that all of you could spare the time to join me," Pitch said, suddenly emerging from the shadows behind Jack.

"You see," Pitch said, his fingers stroking Jack's hair as if he were his minion, "I helped Jack, I-" He was cut short as Bunny suddenly spoke up.

"Get yer 'ands off a 'im! You don't 'elp nobody!" Bunny shouted at Pitch, all his hate clear in his ears, his hands were already clenched onto his boomerangs. Then he felt a hand tug at him and he looked down to see Sandy shaking his head. Bunny's eyebrow's creased in confusion and he pulled away from Sandy, wanting really badly to charge at Pitch. Tooth gave him a sideways glance, mouthing the word 'no' so he restrained himself.

"Like I said, I helped him. I'm the only reason why Jack is alive, why Tooth is alive," Pitch continued, rolling his eyes at Bunny.

"You helped nobody! You're the reason why you would need to 'help keep us alive' in the first place!" Tooth retorted, staggering slightly. Pitch ignored her, continuing.

"Jack is mine now. He would die the minute my control over him is cut-off. You stupid Guardians, I can't believe you thought I could be defeated so easily. You underestimate me," Pitch said, laughing maniacally.

"Jack is Guardian! He cannot die!" North said, his deep Russian accented voice echoed off the walls of the lair.

"You know very well he can, and after what he's been through..." Pitch trailed off, a sadistic smile plastered on his face. "I'm stronger now, and I have you lot to thank for that. Anyway, I really don't want to waste more time, it's nearly dark soon and the children will be sent to bed. Too bad they won't have Mister Sandman to give them sweet dreams," Pitch said tauntingly.

Without any of the Guardians noticing until too late, they were soon surrounded by fearlings. Pitch had disappeared when the fearlings started to attack. One charged for North, but it soon lost its head to North's swords. Yet, to his dismay, the sand re-formed into another fearling, charging again at him. North easily took them down, but more and more were coming.

A few more had charged at Sandy, but he easily transformed the Nightmare sand into Dream sand, also taking a few out with his Dream sand whips. The fearlings were no match for him, either, but it sure seemed like they were multiplying.

Bunny took down many quickly with his boomerangs, especially when they swung back at him. The floor was coloured with pastel colours from his exploding Easter egg-bombs which he had thrown at the fearlings. As etermined as he was, just determination wouldn't get them through this. They were outnumbered.

Tooth had flown up above the crowd of fearlings, but she was dismayed when she saw the great number of fearlings that had surrounded her fellow Guardians. "Guys! We can't take them, there's too many!" She called out to the Guardians. Then something whizzed past her. "Going somewhere without me?" Jack said with mock hurt.

Tooth's eyes widened, "You wouldn't," She hissed as she saw Jack's grip on his scythe tighten.

Jack smirked, if he weren't in mad-dark-possessed mode, Tooth would probably melt, but not in this situation. "I would," Jack said before swinging his staff- no, scythe at her. It barely missed Tooth who had flown further back just in the nick of time, only to find herself bump into something. She turned and yelped as she saw a pair of yellow eyes, followed with a piercing pain in her side before being pushed away forcefully. Pitch smiled at Jack, letting the blood stained dagger disperse into Nightmare sand, saying, "Good boy."

Tooth staggered to the ground, leaning on the wall, watching North, Sandy and Bunny fight off the fearlings. She looked at her blood stained hand, she had been stabbed in her side, and it was deep, but she was a Guardian and forced herself not to abandon her friends and fight on, even though she was already weak in the first place.

Tooth re-joined her friends, they were now fighting back to back, defending each other but not getting anywhere fast. Suddenly, all the fearlings spaced out from the Guardians, in a square shape. Then, they all jumped at the Guardians, but what surprised them is that they didn't hit them. Instead, a large cage was made to surround them. Instinctively, Bunny ran at the cage trying to wrench the bars apart, but to no avail. The cage seemed more sturdy than sand might seem.

Pitch appeared fro the shadows, along with Jack, his arm around Jack's neck. "Oh you stupid bunch. Like my cage? I could never control such a large amount of Nightmare sand before. Spacious enough?"

"You 'ave a sick sense of humour," Bunny hissed, glaring at Pitch with disgust.

"Jack and I are going to have to leave you all for the night, sadly. Don't miss us, the night will be over before you know it. You even have Manny to keep you company!" Pitch said, waving goodbye as he and Jack melted into the darkness.


	9. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Guardians try to escape. Obviously. That's what you do when you're caged up. But the question is- Are they successful? Read on to find out!
> 
> WARNING: Contains mild gore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Contains mild gore.

The Guardians stood in silence until Bunny broke it by sighing with frustration. He turned to Sandy, with an annoyed look. "Why didn't you warn us this could 'appen?! 'Specially if you knew!" Bunny blurted out. He knew he shouldn't be mad at Sandy, he was angry at himself, but he couldn't think straight with all that just happened.

Sandy frowned, his hands and arms going into a 'what did I do?!' position.

"Bunny, don't blame him..." Tooth said weakly. She'd stopped bleeding, the dried blood was still on her hands and she was resting on the ground. It hurt to flap her wings and it made her tired more easily so she didn't fly.

"And Tooth! I told you to wait! Yer shouldn't 'ave gone after 'im on yer own!" Bunny snapped at Tooth. Tooth looked down shamefully.

"I was just worried. You don't know what I heard." Tooth remembered what she'd heard when she first entered the lair, it made her shudder. Tooth was close to tears, and she didn't bother fighting them. "You would be worried too..." She choked out as a single tear rolled down her lightly feathered cheek.

Bunny just inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. He was restless already and couldn't bear just sitting there. "Well, any ideas, big guy?" Bunny asked North, who had been quiet this whole time.

"We must be vigilant. Whenever we have a chance that, let's say, the cage opens, we shall take it and escape!" North said, quite confidently with his loud booming voice, bringing a fist down to the ground to add impact.

"Yeah, what could go wrong with that?" Bunny said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, arms crossed across his chest.

Meanwhile, Pitch and Jack had left to the nearest town which was of course, Burgess. Jack indeed was stronger now, and he had more skills. Along with controlling ice, frost, snow and ride the wind, he could control Nightmare sand and spread nightmares.

"I know someone who would absolutely love a visit from you," Pitch said, as he led Jack to a house. It didn't look much different from the others, but the window was large enough to fit a whole person through. The duo stood outside the window and peered in. Jack saw a young boy with chestnut brown hair, sleeping on his bed, his walls had posters and photographs of many different creatures on it, mythical creatures like big-foot or magazine clippings claiming that alien remains had been found. Sound familiar? Yes, this was Jamie's house.

This was the ultimate test. Jack wouldn't hesitate to harm a friend, but would he harm a young defenceless child he cared for? His first believer? Jack flew in through the window after pushing it open. Luckily for them, the window wasn't locked. Pitch waited outside, watching, waiting if Jack really would send this young boy a horrible nightmare.

Jack stood, eying the boy as he lifted his hand, conjuring up a nightmare. He wasn't dreaming of course. There was no Sandman to send him a dream. Jamie shifted in his bed, clutching at his blanket tightly. Jack smiled, the nightmare had done its job. He left, returning to Pitch, without a single glance back.

Not much time had passed as the Guardians remained locked up, an uneasy silence hung in the air. No one spoke, in case they ended up arguing again. Then, Bunny asked curiously as he noticed Sandy turned away from them, "What are yer doing, mate?" He peered over Sandy's shoulder which, being much taller than him, wasn't reallly very hard.

Sandy stood back, revealing his work. He had slowly, but steadily, been transforming some of the Nightmare sand into Dream sand. It was difficult, but Sandy was a strong Guardian and the two, Pitch and Sandy, both had control over different types of magic sand, which in reality, were still quite similar. Sandy had only transformed a small area, only about his size, but they did have a whole night before Pitch and Jack would return so they had much time. Pitch was silly enough not to leave any fearlings behind, thinking that his cage truly was impossible to break out of, so nothing stood in their way so far.

Finally, after about three hours, Sandy, already nearly dozing off, had created a large patch of Dream sand on the cage that was as big as North. Tooth had tried to sleep, but no matter how tired she felt, she still couldn't fall asleep. North was absolutely fine with falling asleep, however. Bunny had paced the whole night, just taking a few breaks here and there. It was a sleepless night for the Guardians, it seemed.

When Sandy was sure the Dream sand was stable, he poked North awake and gestured that what he was doing was done. Slowly, he created a gap between the Dream sand, allowing the others to pass through, one by one. He couldn't do this when it was Nightmare sand because he had no power over that. First, Bunny helped Tooth through. He gave an approving nod to Sandy, and then followed by North.

"Going somewhere?" Came the deep dark voice of Pitch, all the way from the other side. They'd returned from their nightmare-spreading earlier than the Guardians had expected. Jack had been trying new tricks, or creating his own tricks. That could be seen because beside him, on each side, were two large horses. Taller than him but shorter than Pitch. They were of course, made of Nightmare sand.

The group immediately faced the four threats, in an attacking stance. Unfortunately, before Sandy could leave the cage, Pitch summoned more Nightmare sand to transform the Dream sand. "You're not going anywhere, Sandman," Pitch said, scowling.

"I hope you didn't miss us," Jack said sarcastically.

"Not in the least," Bunny replied, eyes narrowed. "Are those ponies supposed to scare us?" Bunny's paws were already going for his boomerangs. Tooth was gathering her strength and North had had his swords drawn the whole time. Poor old Sandy was stuck in the cage. To make himself useful, he started to try and recreate what he'd done before with the Dream sand.

"Jack dear could you do me a favour? Please do take out the trash for me," And before Jack could reply, Pitch had already melted away into the shadows. Jack then turned to the group, his yellow eyes narrowing. "Invisible, Alone, attack," He said to his horses. The two charged, one at Tooth and the other at North, while Jack went for Bunny.

These fearlings were special. Jack took advantage of his fears and turned them into something more powerful. The first was his fear of being invisible, the next his fear of being alone. Invisible had the ability to disappear and reappear quickly, whilst Alone was much stronger. It portrayed how when Jack was alone, he never gave up and stayed strong.

Jack sent a wave of sharp cone-shaped ice arrows at Bunny, who defended himself by dodging them and breaking some of them with his boomerangs. "Is that really all yer can do? What 'appened to 'becoming a better person?" Bunny taunted, but then had to hop out of the way when Jack swung his scythe at him. Bunny leapt at Jack but Jack pushed him off. Bunny had hopped onto a ledge above Jack which was about to crumble. Thinking quickly, Jack barged into the rock, wanting to make it fall. He used his side, the one with his initially injured shoulder. By right, it shouldn't have hurt him. Yet it did. Jack didn't know why. He didn't remember what he'd been through with Pitch, so he just told himself that the rock was harder than he'd expected it to be.

The rock did crumble, but what Jack did not expect was what came next. Bunny had jumped off the ledge as soon as it crumbled, landing on top of Jack, pinning him down with one large paw around his neck and another around his arm. Jack struggled, and for some reason hi body started to ache, in his head, along one of his arms and on his foot as well. As Bunny firmly held him down, he felt a sudden dampness on his paw and Jack's struggling began to weaken. He looked at his paw and was surprised to find his grey fur stained crimson red. It certainly wasn't his blood. He had no time to think of this though, as he had to continue hold down Jack. He couldn't hurt him, and he was already getting weaker anyway, so he just waited for the others before doing anything.

Tooth was fighting Invisible, she had the advantage of flying, no matter how much it hurt her, she'd do anything for Jack, or a dear friend. As Invisible flitted about, disappearing and reappearing, Tooth whizzed about above it, shocking it every now and then whenever she had a clear shot with her purple light powers. As time passed, it got weaker, but so did she.

North was fighting Alone. They were both very strong, so in this case, skill would win the battle, since both their strengths were almost equal. Every time North struck it, it would regenerate with Nightmare sand. Soon enough, though, Sandy finally made a hole with the help of Dream sand and got out, aiding North with attacking the large horse. Sandy had soon weakened the horse with the help of his Dream sand and North had severed it to pieces, the Nightmare sand not powerful enough to re-form the horse. It was created by Jack after all, not Pitch.

North and Sandy soon joined Tooth, defeating Invisible, though this one took longer because of the Guardians' obvious disadvantage of not being able to see their enemy half the time.

Jack had stopped struggling, his scythe too far away to reach and the pain getting stronger. Especially where Bunny had him pinned down. Bunny was curious from where the blood was coming from so, placing a knee on Jack's chest to keep him down, he rolled up Jack's sleeve only to be greeted with an unpleasant surprise. There, spanning the length of Jack's whole arm, were long and deep wounds. Bunny's brow creased, and Jack too was surprised. Tooth gasped at the sight, her hands shooting up over her mouth, covering it as she kneeled down beside Bunny with worry.

"What 'appened 'ere?" Bunny muttered to himself. Jack, not liking the fact that people were being concerned over him, started to struggle some more, wincing as the pain felt more vivid at each movement. "Get off me!" He'd muttered, his eyes filled with hate as the pair of yellow eyes glared at Bunny.

Then, a familiar yet hated voice rang out from the shadows, "Oh... What a shame."


	10. Wasted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Has the Guardians' attempts to save Jack gone to waste? Does Pitch have even MORE devious plans? Why are my chapter summaries filled with questions?!
> 
> WARNING: Torture and mild violence and all that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Contains torture and mild violence.

"Oh what a shame," The words echoed through the lair, and the Guardians turned to the source of the voice. Pitch had returned and was now taking long strides over to where Bunny had Jack pinned down. "So it's wearing off," Pitch muttered under his breath, surveying Jack. Bunny, with his rabbit hearing, had heard what Pitch had said so he asked, "What? What's wearin' off?"

Pitch rolled his eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "The spell, the thing keeping him alive!" Pitch said frustratedly. He was now standing over Jack, by his side, but not bent down like Bunny was. "Get off him, Aster, or do you want Jack to be hurt," Pitch said, almost concerned.

"I'm not going to get hurt!" Jack exclaimed, starting to struggle again, kicking weakly at Bunny. It made no difference to Bunny, though, being much larger and stronger than Jack was. Jack really didn't like getting fussed over. Normal or not, that was just Jack.

Pitch ignored Jack and said in a more stern voice, "Leave, the lot of you!" Of course the Guardians didn't budge. "We vill not be leaving without Jack!" North boomed, stepping forward.

"Then you can leave with a dead body!" Pitch countered. "Leave us, go, get off him!" Pitch ordered.

"In yer bloody dreams mate!" Bunny breathed, still kneeling down and not moving an inch. Pitch was prepared to face resistance, so he lifted his foot and brought it down hard onto Jack's arm. As Jack's old wounds had reopened, it hurt. A lot. Jack, unprepared for this, yelped out in pain, trying to pull his arm away but it made the pain worse. "Why... Are... You... Doing this?" Jack managed to gasp.

Tooth gasped, flying at Pitch but only to be pulled back by tendrils of Nightmare sand, hitting her against the wall behind her. Bunny hopped back, about to give Pitch a hard punch but he'd dodged.

Pitch smiled, his eyes like slits. "Took you long enough," He said to Bunny, before reaching down to grab Jack by his hair and pull him up. Jack's arm had started to bleed again and the areas in which his old wounds were ached like mad. He attempted to knee Pitch in the stomach but Pitch merely pushed him backwards, making him fall to the floor, his head hitting it hard.

"You will regret not leaving," Pitch said darkly, as more tendrils of Nightmare sand made its way around the wrists of Bunny, Sandy and North, pulling them to the wall with great force. Tooth had already been caught before them, anyway.

With Jack still on the floor, Pitch walked over to him, standing over him menacingly. Pitch sneered, "I have no use for you now. It would be a waste of effort too keep you alive. Might as well have my fun before you die." Jack didn't understand what Pitch meant by this. What he did understand though, was that all this time, Jack had just been a tool to him.

Pitch kneeled down, a small dagger in his hands. He laid it on the surface of Jacks leg, before cutting it, piercing his skin. This dagger was very sharp, so it made clean cuts quite easily. Jack's blood oozed out, staining his torn pants as well as the ground,

The other Guardians could do nothing but watch. "Stop this yer sick idiot!" Bunny had called out to him. Tooth had pleaded multiple times for Pitch to stop, but of course, why would he listen? Why should he listen? Meanwhile, Sandy was trying his earlier learnt trick at his Nightmare sand binds. It was working, but he hoped it didn't take too awfully long. Thankfully, Pitch didn't notice.

Jack didn't make a sound, forced himself not to. Pitch was still cutting at Jack's legs. Jack could feel that the cuts weren't at random, but they were lines and curves. This went on for what seemed like forever. Jack's legs burned. After awhile, Jack didn't take note of how the knife was moving, his eyes were just squeezed shut. The pain was too intense and the aching pain in his head hadn't subsided since just now. When Pitch had finally stopped, Jack tried to make himself relax, but he just couldn't He could feel the blood on his legs, there was so much. He unclenched his fists which he didn't know he'd clenched in the first place when he felt the pain stop, at least for that short period of time. He didn't only feel physical pain, but mental pain as well. He couldn't believe he thought Pitch actually cared for him. He was a useless piece of trash which nobody bothered to pick up. A piece of trash that made the streets unsightly.

Pitch had stood back, as if he were once again, admiring his 'work'. Jack struggled to slowly sit himself up and went paler than he already was upon seeing his legs. There was blood everywhere, A pool of blood surrounded him and he noticed something about the cuts. That was why it felt like patterns. One leg had the word 'Invisible' on it and the other 'Alone', both 'carved' from Jack's own skin. Jack's two greatest fears. Being invisible and alone. He grit his teeth, hatred for Pitch burning passionately inside him. Slowly, ignoring the searing pain Jack felt all around his body, Jack stood up with the aid of a nearby wall. He staggered and Pitch watched, curious as to what Jack was trying to do, why he would bother standing up.

"How... How dare you use me," Jack breathed. Pitch ordered him to speak up. He tried his best to. "I said... How dare you use me!" As he said his, he used all his strength and brought a fist up, aiming at Pitch's face. Pitch was surprised at this, but merely backed away. As Jack lost his balance and started to fall forward, Pitch took this chance to knee him in the stomach. Jack staggered back and slumped down against the wall. A long bout of coughing followed. With each cough came blood, and Nightmare sand.

As Jack coughed up more and more Nightmare sand, something happened. First, his hair changed. The black disappeared, it looked as if the Nightmare sand was dripping off it, returning to the original white, but still stained with crimson red blood. Then, his Nightmare sand hoodie disappeared as well, leaving his bare skin showing with all the old wounds. His back, the many wounds from the whips, his shoulder had also started to bleed again, the wound was still opened. And down his arm were the long cuts from Pitch's knife. The Guardians gasped the the sight of this, whereas Pitch looked on with a smug expression. Lastly, Jack's scythe returned to the original plain wooden staff.

The first thing Pitch did was to kick Jack's staff away. It was the only way Jack could fight him, after all. Not like he had much strength left anyway.

Jack really felt like dying right now. His head hut like mad and he felt faint form blood loss. Now hat Pitch's spell had worn of and he no longer had Nightmare sand to help him, he was in a very bad condition. Many protests from the Guardians melted into a chaos of noise in Jacks head, and he just felt like falling into darkness. Pitch could see him growing weaker. "Oh we can't have you falling asleep in front of your audience, deary," Pitch said, a sinister smile tugging at his lips.

Pitch knelt down and grabbed Jack by his neck and then stood upright. It looked as if Jack was weightless in his grasp. Jack made no move to stop him, his hands barely moving as he struggled to breath. His legs, which still burned from the cuts, kicked and flailed in the air. Pitch tightened his grip on Jack's neck, earning a gasp from Jack. Then, when he'd had enough, he pushed Jack into the wall. He stood over him, both hands on each shoulder. He did what he'd done before, the Nightmare sand lengthening his nails and they dug in deep to Jack's skin, clashing with his bones. it made Jack scream out until he lost his voice, the blood splattering out onto the rest of his arm and onto Pitch's hands. His old shoulder wound reopened as Pitch took his hand back, tearing off more skin from Jack, the blood spilling to the floor. Jack really wished he could just die then, if only he didn't have to suffer this much, but Pitch wouldn't let him until he'd had his fun. He knew he would die in the end, he only wanted it sooner. As Pitch took his hands back, he let jack fall to the ground, smiling evilly. He was still hungry for more when he felt a sudden burning feeling in his back. He whipped around to see the unexpected.


	11. There's still Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack? Or a dead Jack? That's a choice for the Guardians to make.
> 
> WARNING: Just as the ten earlier chapters, this contains torture and non-graphic violence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Contains torture and non-graphic violence.

Pitch's eyes widened as he saw Sandy, a Dream sand whip in each hand, glaring at him. Bunny had his boomerangs in each hand, North with his swords and Tooth with her fists clenched, all four pairs of eyes bore into Pitch with hatred and disgust. Jack's brain barely registered to him that Pitch had turned away, but it hurt to think, so he just lay there, slowly slipping in and out of unconsciousness.

As Pitch had been too preoccupied with Jack, he hadn't noticed Sandy help himself and the others escape by slowly turning the Nightmare sand into Dream sand.

Pitch didn't care to ask how they'd escaped, for the next moment he had to dodge another strike from Sandy, though only to be hit on the head by one of Bunny's boomerangs. Soon, fearlings began to approach through the narrow cave doorway, one of them launching itself at Tooth, who fought back with a blast of light. More fearlings poured in but due to the small doorway, North and Tooth worked together to take them out easily, one by one.

Sandy and Bunny both fought Pitch. With Nightmare sand being a part of Pitch now, he was more vulnerable to Dream sand, giving Sandy a good advantage. Though he had more control and skill with the sand, Sandy and Pitch were opposites, meaning the disadvantages and advantages were both of greater impact to each physically. It was two on one, and it was clear Pitch would get no where fast and he would not take any chances. So a plan formed in his head as he continuously dodged the two Guardians' attacks, only getting hit twice.

Then seemingly out of nowhere, a sand whip struck him to the side, making him feel a burning feeling and he fell to the ground, only an arm's length away from the wounded winter spirit who was currently laying on the ground, his surroundings a blur as all he felt was pain and all he heard were muffled shouts.

At that moment, it seemed like everything had stopped, North and Tooth looked at each other, confused. For the Nightmares had stopped approaching. Bunny gave an approving nod to Sandy, who approached Pitch carefully. Everything had stopped and all their attention was on Pitch when suddenly...

Pitch stood up again, almost as if the hit to his side hadn't had affected him. Yet it did, he just pretended it did him worse at first. He exaggerated. As he got up, he grabbed Jack with him, by the shoulder, making Jack give out a soft whimper as his old wounds were again damaged. At this, Sandy stopped, once again whips at the ready, instantly making the other Guardians also stand in offense, each with their different weapons and stances.

Pitch smiled a wicked smile, a familiar dagger in his hand held against Jack's throat. Jack didn't have a single care, he would be glad if it just ended, he would welcome it, after all this, but he knew his friends would be heartbroken. "You know the drill, leave and he will be spared." Pitch said, a sly smile on his face.

"I think it's a bit late for that," Bunny growled, his paws clenched tightly around his boomerangs.

Pitch smiled, his sharp teeth showing, "There is still... Hope," He started laughing as if he were mocking Bunny. When they didn't move, he pressed the knife harder against Jack's skin, on the verge of piercing it when Tooth finally spoke up.

"Wait! We'll... We'll go..." She burst out, looking at the others for their approval. After a few moments of hesitation, North nodded, asking Bunny to surrender. One by one, they lowered their weapons, all but Bunny, who still held his boomerangs in his paws. Pitch looked at Bunny, silently willing him to surrender. Bunny took the hint as Pitch's hand fidgeted around the dagger and finally he kept his boomerangs.

Tooth turned to leave first, followed by North and then Sandy. Bunny was the last to leave, leaving Pitch with a last distrustful glare and a silent oath that they would get Jack back.

When Pitch was sure they had left, he shoved Jack forcefully to the ground, ignoring a faint groan of pain. He strode out of the room, making sure the Nightmares were on watch before he returned to Jack.

Jack barely noticed a shadow towering over him, the pain he once felt was now just numbness, and that wasn't a good sign. His throat hurt from the screaming and his muscles made their own screaming due to the pain earlier. Pitch bent down, Jack would've felt his warm breath but of course he had worse things to worry about. "It seems like you will be of some use after all." Pitch whispered.

Pitch grabbed Jack forcefully once more, his spidery hands stained with the crimson blood of the boy, once again connecting lips with Jack in another kiss. But no, of course it wasn't a romantic one, it was only so that Pitch could ensure control over Jack with Nightmare sand once again. Yet this time, it wasn't as painful, for Jack of course. There wasn't as obvious a change as there was earlier. His hair remained white, yet still stained red from blood, his staff which was lying on the ground a few feet away remained the same, the only difference were his eyes, yellow like Pitch's.

Jack had no strength to struggle, so it was a much easier process. His wounds didn't heal like before, though. Pitch didn't plan to let them heal, nor did he plan for Jack to be so powerful. Yet.

"Feeling better, Frost? Yes? Of course, thank me," Pitch said in a slightly corrupt manner. Jack didn't respond, yet looked on with soulless amber eyes, barely standing without support.

Pitch shrugged it off and picked up Jack's staff, inspecting it before handing it to Jack, as if he would have preferred to keep it. Wouldn't you have kept it?

"We have a little trip, you and me. Do you have your list for Santa?" Pitch asked sarcastically, before bursting once again into another fit of maniacal laughter.


	12. Birth of a Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the Guardians come across good news, is it really good news, or is it just a... Trap?
> 
> WARNING: Non-graphic violence and torture. The usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Non-graphic violence and torture. The usual.

"We 'ave to go after 'im!" Bunny insisted.

"Yes but how?" Tooth added desperately.

"We 'ave four and 'e is one!" Bunny argued.

"Enough!" North boomed, cutting short the two Guardians' bickering, standing from his seat abruptly. They were all in North's office in the North Pole, trying to create a plan to help Jack. Sandy sat silently, as usual, next to North, trying to think of plans in his own little mind, the only problem was that Bunny and Tooth were consistently arguing, which really disturbed everyone's thinking. Bunny didn't want to spend time sitting around, while Tooth was the opposite and being paranoid about everyone's safety.

Jack clung on weakly to a Nightmare horse, behind Pitch who was on one of his own. Jack's wounds only had time to clot so that it no longer bled, nothing had improved, though. The only thing keeping him alive was of course Pitch, his lost blood somewhat replaced with Nightmare sand. Yet Pitch didn't heal him enough so that his wounds closed up, they were still open and he still felt faint, but his throat was better and he had his stamina back. He could only listen to Pitch, he didn't have much control over himself at this state, he barely knew where Pitch was taking him.

Pitch had a plan and Jack was his ticket, he thought nothing would go wrong, he was so sure of it.

They soon could see a building, its fairy lights strung out around it, large with a big exit or entrance, colourful with the recognisable figures of Yetis surrounding it. Yes, it was none other than the North Pole.

Pitch figured that would be where the Guardians would go. Even if it wasn't, North would still be there. The Pole also had an Infirmary, however rarely used, it was still good and would obviously be where the Guardians would take Jack to recover. Pitch and Jack hid in the shadows, avoiding the Yetis, until they finally made it to the area of the building which housed the Infirmary. Pitch knew this because he spied on the area from time to time, you know as they say, keep your friends close but your enemies closer.

Pitch sent a tendril of Nightmare sand under the window pane, unlocking it from the inside and he slipped in, he smiled, they were in one of the Infirmary's rooms, the Yetis would be outside but the door was shut anyway.

Pitch turned to Jack, saying in a soft but clear and firm tone, "You will do as told, stay to the plan and do anything you need to do t complete your tasks."

Pitch need not explain further just this instant, he could communicate with Jack through something like telepathy, as the Nightmare sand bonded them, allowing them to communicate in such a way.

Jack nodded, staying unmoving, unsure of what to do. Pitch, turned back just as he was about to leave, rolling his eyes. "What does it take to get a little attention around here?!" He muttered in frustration, unknowingly quoting Jack's words. He walked up to Jack grabbing his shoulder and squeezing it, hard. This made the old pain burst out again, making Jack yelp in surprise and pain, mostly pain.

Unsatisfied, Pitch squeezed him harder, making Jack shout louder. He soon heard rushed and panicked shuffling as well as clumsy footsteps from outside the room, so Pitch quickly made his escape while Jack just stood there, clutching his arm, leaning on the wall with his head hanging.

The Yetis barged into the room, panicked and yet still hostile, but when they saw a badly wounded familiar rascal, they instantly knew they had to tell North. One of them was sent to North whilst two of them helped him up into the conveniently close-by bed. They started to clean the wound, which was already showing signs of infection since it hadn't been cleaned in time and had re-opened countless times. The treatment and anti-biotics stung, making Jack groan in pain.

When the Yeti barged in to North's office, forgetting once again to knock, he found himself face to face with a very frustrated red-faced Russian. "What is it?" He demanded, obviously under a lot of stress. When the Yeti told North who had shown up in it's local Yeti language, North stormed past the Yeti, rushing to the Infirmary, needing to see this for himself. He thought it was impossible, and he didn't even bother telling Sandy, Bunny or Tooth about it so they had no choice to rush after him, confused.

North pushed past Yetis and tripped over Elves until he finally got into the room. He burst in and, to his surprise, saw him!

"Jack Frost!" He exclaimed in a jolly fashion. The joy was short lived as North realised that this could be a trap. Why would Pitch just leave him here? Jack can't have escaped, could he?


	13. Deception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh... This isn't how Jack's supposed to act. He may be safe(r), but he's not himself.
> 
> No warning. Yay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wait, no warning this time? Wow, that's a surprise.

Jack groaned, heaving himself up from the bed to an awkward sitting position. He did only have one arm that was stable enough to help him up. However, even a simple sound such as a groan strained his throat. He made a mental note to reduce his talking, he wouldn't talk much anyway.

Jack looked up at North, who had now walked over to the bedside, staring down at him suspiciously, but still sympathetically. Jack was so numb he barely felt the Yetis tending to his wounds as the stinging had subsided. His eyes were red and strained, glazed over from the state he was in. The little control he had over his body made everything worse, but at least he had less to think about. Right?

Soon, the thump of two large heavy feet landing on the ground could be heard and Bunnymund poked his head through the doorway, before rushing over to the opposite side of the bed to North upon seeing his (no longer) playful rival's state. Behind him followed Tooth, stopping hovered in the air with a gasp as she laid her eyes on Jack, almost as if worse than before. It was as if the mere image sent cold arrows of ice right through her heart. She entered the room, barely enough energy to fly, so she just landed next to Bunny. Sandy came in after her, floating on a cloud for a better look at Jack. Also partly so that Jack could see him, too.

Jack looked at them, helplessness in his eyes. Of course, it was all an act.

"What the 'eck did that bastard do to you?!" Bunny exclaimed, anger showed clearly in his eyes. Yeah, Jack was a pain in the butt sometimes, most times, but they were still friends, and friends cared for each other.

Tooth looked sadly from Bunny to Jack, slightly shocked at his sudden outburst. She laid a hand on Bunny's shoulder, but he ignored her as if she wasn't there. He obviously wasn't in the mood for comfort. Tooth sighed, pity and sorrow in her expression. If faces wrote words, those were the two words that showed the most. "Jack… Your staff, he doesn't have it… Does he?"

Jack nodded solemnly, wincing at the pain in his shoulder as it is finally bandaged up after being open so long.

"That's it, I'm going after 'im, you lot can follow or stay if you want!" Bunny said firmly. His voice showed that nothing would compel him otherwise.

At this, Jack objected. "No!" He says between bouts of coughing, "You can't-" He is cut off as he suddenly feels a pain from somewhere around his abdomen. Like a muscle pain, just much much more intense. It felt like someone had thrust a hand in him and started twisting and pulling at his internal organs. It made him call out in intense pain, he should be embarrassed, but it was so sudden and impactful that he couldn't just keep it in. You will not disobey me, Frost. I will get what I want and you will comply. A sudden dark voice rang in his head. Or else… The unspoken threat rang in his ears. He didn't need to be told twice, he knew Pitch wouldn't bring harm to just him, but to his friends as well. But… Would his friends ever forgive him when they found out he had helped Pitch. Surely they would… Or would they? The thought scared him. Either way, he probably would end up lonely and friendless. Just like the old times. When there were no troubles, however lonely, yet certainly less painful.

Jack managed to speak up, regretting what he said next. "What I mean to say is that," He coughs again, hesitant, before a small twinge of pain makes him cringe, "Bunny shouldn't go alone, the rest of you should follow, Pitch has tricks," He inhales deeply, coughing again once or twice, "And you guys are going to need as much help as you can get. I'll be alright."

"Whoever said we cared whether you were alright?" Bunny asked with a cheeky grin on his face for the first time in what felt like... Days? Weeks, maybe. He smirked looking down at jack, giving him a friendly, but extremely soft, nudge on his good shoulder.

I'd care about yourself more. Jack thought gravely to himself, though he wore a small smile to please Bunny, yet it didn't reach his eyes. Bunny just brushed it off, assuming that Jack was just tired.

The Guardians then put together a plan. North made sure quite a few Yetis watched over Jack, and baby-Tooth of course, as well. They would pay dear Pitch a surprise visit. Though that would only work if the host was home, wouldn't it?

As they left, Jack bent his legs in closer to himself, trying to make himself as small as possible under the sheets. He was lucky he didn't get affected by the cold. Then why did he feel himself shiver when his friends left? Why did he feel bad if he was the one who complied to Pitch in the first place? Why was it so bad if the Guardians left him? It's not like he's scared or anything. Though he may be scared for the world.

What have I done? You idiot, you can't handle pain and would give up the lives of so many just to stop the pain. Some Guardian, you coward. Jack thinks to himself, a single tear escaping his eye. His friends were sure to never forgive him. Especially Bunny. And maybe even Tooth.


	14. Break-In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack regrets his actions, but he couldn't do much to stop them, could he?
> 
> WARNING: Torture. Just torture this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Contains torture.

'Pitch… Why…?' Jack thought to himself. He was cuddled up under the covers like a kitten so that the Yetis did not disturb him. He did not want them to leave, he couldn't stand being alone, but they knew not to bother him. He wouldn't let himself cry, nor make a sound. It was probably the end of his life after this, his friends would think he had betrayed them, which he had, and now he was under Pitch's control. He wasn't Jack. He was Pitch's property now.

The Guardians had split up. North and Sandy would enter Pitch's lair through the hole and Tooth had followed Bunny with his tunnels.

As Bunny poked his head out of his tunnel discreetly, hidden in the shadow, he saw nothing. No movement at all, nor did his keen bunny senses hear a thing. He hopped out of the tunnel, landing with a soft thump and Tooth flitted out after him. They paused, looking around. It didn't feel right, why was it so quiet, deserted almost. The dreaded place, so dark and eerie, anything could spring at them from the shadows. It was a maze, this place. Stairs that led to nowhere, even stairs that were upside down, and stalactites that stretched from the ceiling all the way to the ground and stalagmites that mirrored that action in an inverted direction.

Meanwhile, back in North's Workshop, Pitch slunk through the shadows like water, not being seen by a single Yeti. It was impossible, he slid through the shadows like a black cat in a dark night stalking down its prey which it had a sure shot on. Which was exactly what Pitch was doing, just that it was a longer process, yet they were both equally thought out. An attacker must know its prey well, be able to tell its next move before it can make a successful attack, thus all the planning.

At the same time, North and Sandy had silently landed through the hole. Sandy did have the disadvantage of emitting some light, however much he tried to control it, his sand was too vibrant. Yet it seemed like there was no one present to notice it. That wasn't what they were hoping, was it? Of course with a surprise visit, there must be someone to receive the surprise, but there was nobody present.

Jack felt a pulse emit from his centre, making him cringe in pain and gasp from the sudden impact. He closed his eyes tight; he knew he was in for it now. Pitch was sure to be angry at him. Angry at him for putting up resistance.

"Frost! You idiot, how dare you disobey my orders?! Resistance will not be tolerated," He heard Pitch's voice reverberate through his mind. "In the end you will still end up facing pain, this is just a warm-up," Pitch continued. If a smirk had a particular sound, this was probably what it would sound like. Just that it was more twisted and evil. Jack whimpered in pain softly as he felt another pulse He might as well have been stabbed with a dagger. That was what it felt like. He checked his abdominal area for good measure, though of course he wasn't stabbed with a dagger no matter how much it felt like it. Sometimes being immortal really was just a big pain in the bum.

"Don't worry about your friends, because- oh wait, they won't be your friends anymore. And I highly doubted they were your friends to start with." Jack clenched his fists till his knuckles turned white. How dare he say that about the Guardians? Though the dreaded truth was what if he was right? He shook his head, clenching the covers as his whole body shook, giving in to the tears, letting them just flow freely. So what if the Yetis heard him? Lose their trust, might as well have the dignity as a bonus.

Back in Pitch's lair, the group of unsuspecting Guardians carried on with their plan despite of the unusual lack of their target. Bunny and Tooth were checking the perimeter of the cavern whilst North and Sandy went on the search for Pitch. Of course, they weren't getting very far. Not even a single Nightmare horse in sight, either.

Currently, Pitch was heading for the Globe. It wasn't the straightforward way, though. He knew the Globe contained something the Man in the Moon had given the Guardians during the Dark Ages all those years ago. It was incredibly powerful and supported the Guardians more than they knew. It was also the damned thing that had aided in the defeat of him, Pitch Black. And now, he was going to get back at them for all the pain they had caused him these many years past.


	15. Close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Guardians are close to getting what they want back, or at least that's what they think. That's what Pitch wants them to think. Whether they're correct is a whole new story. Oh wait, it's this story.
> 
> Short chapter for multiple reasons, but I'm working on the next one now, so please bear with me ^^; Also, no warnings this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings yet AGAIN?! Sacré bleu!

The lair was devoid of life. There truly was nothing there, only just the rare Nightmare in the desolate area, which the Guardians easily dodged.

They started to doubt themselves and what Jack had told them. Maybe they had missed Pitch, and that he had left already. Left. Left for where? Now that was something else they had to worry about. The Guardians were starting to grow suspicious, especially Bunny, who was starting to doubt this, and that Jack had trapped them, under Pitch's control. Though this was an assumption he hoped was wrong.

Tooth on the other hand, worried that Pitch could have left and gone back to hurt Jack whilst they weren't there. That too, was an assumption she hoped was not reality.

To their disdain however, they were both close to the truth.

Back at the North Pole, Jack was growing extremely restless, fidgeting continuously in his bed. Finally, after some time and getting sick and tired of the lying around, he slowly swept his feet off the bed in one swift movement. If he couldn't go anywhere or help with anything, he could at least satisfy his old active personality by taking a walk.

As he slowly got off the bed, he winced a little as he put weight onto his injured feet, but he inhaled and exhaled slowly, getting used to the pain, before attempting to stand up fully. Using his better arm to steady himself, he held onto the head of the bed for support, slowly pushing himself off so that he could try and stand upright by himself. Once he did, he slowly turned, about to exit the room, only to find himself face to face with a Yeti, his nose brushing the chest fur of the taller creature. He looked up sheepishly at the Yeti, clearing his throat so that he could sound at least alive when he explained why he was getting out of bed instead of like the undead.

"Just taking a walk," He says, though it sounds more like a croak. Seeing the disapproving expression of the Yeti in front of him, he adds in a small raspy voice, "I'll be fine, really!"

With a roll of his eyes, the Yeti steps aside and lets Jack pass. Jack nods in thanks before slowly walking out towards the door.

Pitch slunk through the shadows, slowly approaching the large Globe in the centre of the room, or the whole building for that matter. His mind was no longer focused on Jack, so he hadn't noticed Jack get out of bed and walk out of the room. Instead, he could feel victory close, yet he knew not to be complaisant and to stay according to the plan. He wouldn't fail this time. Couldn't, wouldn't fail.


	16. A Favour Given is a Favour Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pitch has done it, and Jack has helped him. But Jack doesn't know the weight of the issue. And what's worse is, he's played a part in it.
> 
> What did they do?
> 
> Eyyo~ No warning o.O

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyo~ No warning o.O

"You know what, I'm starting to think we've been tricked," Bunny said softly to Tooth as they walked silently through the lair. Tooth hovered beside him, hesitating before she replied, "I think you're right..." Her tone matched his hushed tone and it trailed off. They decided they should re-group with the other two Guardians and head off back to the Pole, having already been gone for awhile and not being successful in their search.

Sandy stopped behind North as the large man continued on, muttering in Russian at their misfortune of not finding anything, until he realised Sandy had stopped following him. He turned to see Sandy giving him an annoyed look and gesturing with a finger over his lips for North to just be quiet. It was evident that Sandy had heard something. They both turned and squinted their eyes as they peered into the darkness, Sandy quickly having his Dreamsand whips materialised and North gripping his swords.

They could hear the sounds of a slight whizz of the wind and a very soft thump of two large feet walking towards them. The two relaxed and kept away their arms when they realised it was just Tooth and Bunny.

"We've been conned, mate," Bunny said as he hopped up towards North, out of the shadows and into view.

North nodded, his face donned a serious expression. "I know, we'd best get back as soon as possible."

"What if something's happened to the Pole?" Tooth asked worriedly, "Or worse, Jack?"

"Get your priorities right, missy," Bunny replied in an annoyed tone. Tooth glared back at him but said nothing.

"We need to get back, quickly," North said, already taking out his snow globe.

Bunny butted in immediately, "No way! That'll attract way too much attention, my way's better!"

North was just about to protest when he noticed Sandy pulling at his pants just under his knee. He looked down, annoyed, until he saw Sandy point behind him. He heard a small gust of wind and a snort-like sound. It couldn't possibly come from one of the Guardians. If not them, then it must have been...

Pitch Black reached the Globe. There was a very small door with a lock over it on one side of the Globe. It wasn't very noticeable, but the Yeti's knew it was there, so Pitch had to be very careful. He didn't step out of the shadows just yet. Instead, he let a trail of Nightmare sand slide out towards the lock, unlocking it slowly by picking the lock. Did the Guardians really think a silly ol' lock would stop Pitch from getting to what he was going for? If they did, they were wrong, and very very silly. Softly, he pushed open the door with the very same trail of Nightmare sand. The soft clink of the door opening alerted a bypassing Yeti, but due to the large stack of toys was pushing along in a cart in front o him, he couldn't see much below him, and assumed that it was nothing. Pitch smiled menacingly, and opened the door a little more before he slipped inside, only needing to leave the shadows momentarily.

The door closed softly behind him as he materialised in the room. Oh wait- in the Globe. Yes, he was inside the Globe. But why was this so important? It's not like it protected one of the most important things the Guardians had, the next thing they relied on apart from the belief of the children. Except that it did. It was an Enchanted Moonstone, passed down from the Man in the Moon to the Guardians to help them. They couldn't possibly be so powerful purely from the belief the children had in them, something had to start them off. And this was it. It was hard to keep secret, because something as powerful as that emanated strong waves of energy, and Pitch could sense it.

But of course the guardians weren't stupid enough to leave it to the protection of a simple lock, they had an alarm, of course. Pitch was prepared, however. Before he could do anything, though, a Nightmare appeared...

North turned to face a horde of Nightmares surrounding the group. They all armed their weapons in an instant, ready to face them. Without hesitating, Bunny charged at the horses, throwing his boomerangs and following his attack with a jump and a hard kick at two horses before the two boomerangs found themselves flying back into his large furry paw-like hands as he landed, successfully getting rid of four of the Nightmares. To their dismay, that really wasn't enough.

Of course, they were just only four, against a whole army. But their leader wasn't there. North joined in with attacking, swiping his two swords at the endless amount of Nightmares, whilst Sandy whipped his two long strands of strong bright Dreamsand. Tooth attacked from the sky, using her flight as an advantage against the Nightmares. Of course they too could travel the wind, but it was harder in an enclosed space like the lair. The Guardians could take out many of the horses alright, and were certainly brilliant fighters, but the sheer amount of these horses were too much for the four to handle all at once.

"What is it?" Pitch asked, annoyance lining his voice as he hissed softly at the Nightmare. His expression quickly changed from annoyance to anger. The Guardians were already planning to come back, warned the Nightmare. He had to be quick- wait, even quicker. The Nightmare had set off the alarms. He could feel the slight rumble of the ground as the thumps of who-knows how many Yetis charged over to the Globe. If he wasn't quick, he'd get caught and his plan would fail.

Pitch couldn't take the Moonstone, so if he couldn't have it, no one would. In an instant, he'd created a large scythe of Nightmare sand, giving it one powerful swing and-

"What the heck?!" Jack protested as he was pushed back and forth between a sea of Yetis, all seemingly headed for the large Globe in the centre of the building. It helped that the Yetis were soft, so it didn't hurt him much, but they were bulky, and much taller than him. He felt so small as he was surrounded by them, and he jolly well could have been trampled over given his small, already damaged, frame. As safe as he could, he tried to slowly push himself back into his room. On a normal day, he would fly over to the centre of attention and find out what was stealing his attention, but he just didn't feel like it, nor had he the ability to.

CRACK! The scythe hit the gem with a great impact and a bright flash, blinding Pitch temporarily. As his eyes adjusted again, he realised the Moonstone had cracked, but not to a point that it would have broken entirely. A part of it had fallen to the floor, a small shard of it. Pitch bent down to touch it, the Yetis getting closer. As he touched it, however, he brought his hand back sharply, hissing from a burning sensation in his finger. Damn the Moon. Damn it! It gave a similar effect to Dreamsand. He couldn't hold it, but he thought it might be useful in his possession, so he kicked it away to a portion of the room where it was hidden from sight. And just as the Yetis kicked open the door, Pitch had gone.

"Thank you, Jack. You've done me a favour. Now you can try explaining to your friends what's happened." Jack staggered back and landed with a soft thump on his bed as he heard that voice again. He squeezed his eyes shut, he tried to block out the voice, but it was so loud. What did he mean? What has he done? What has Pitch done? What did he help him do?


	17. Just GO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems the Guardians realise too late that they've been tricked, and it looks like Jack's taking things a bit too far. How will he deal with all the trauma he's going through? It doesn't seem like he's doing it the right way, especially when he's aided by Pitch...
> 
> WARNING: Thought of and attempted suicide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Thought of and attempted suicide.

Jack sat on the bed, slouched over, looking at his hands. He would blink and get images of how they were like before, blood stained and scarred, and he would squeeze his eyes shut, only to welcome the darkness which heralded hideous reminiscences of his time with Pitch. He didn't know what he'd done, yet, but he knew it was bad. The Yetis outside his room had ran down in a stampede of fur with heavy thumps as they rushed down the stairs to what he guessed was the Globe. He didn't bother getting up to look. It was too hard for him. Breath after breath, he wished it would just stop. That thumping in his chest, he wished it would just remain silent. Already the life in his eyes were gone and the spirit in him was crushed, why not take the rest?

The Guardians backed up against each other once again, forever outnumbered against their impossible foes, having just gotten stronger. Then, it stopped. Looking around in confusion, the Nightmares backed off. "Too scare, now, eh mates?" Bunny mocked, before he quickly took back his words as a low cackle emanated from the darkness ahead of them.

"You're getting quite cocky, my dear fluffy bunny," the voice rang out, bouncing off the cave walls. Bunny swore he would punch him, muttering curses under his breath. "Sorry, I forgot, you don't like facing who you really are, or should I say,  _what_ you really are, animal," the voice rang out again and Bunny had to be restrained by Tooth to keep him from jumping full forced, blindly throwing himself at the enemy.

"Oh sorry,  _mate,_  but did I pull a string there?" the voice said, imitating Bunny, "Oh such fun! Your feelings are like little guitars, strumming them like nothing mattered," it continued in a sarcastic joyful voice, " **Pathetic** ," it finished as the owner of the voice finally stepped out of the shadows in front of the Guardians, a few feet away from Bunny's nose.

"Come on, strike me," he said, his lips twisting into a mad smile, his teeth glinted in the little light there was, "Although you'd think there would be more things to think about."

They stared at him. "What do you mean?" Tooth asked cautiously. "I don't know, a little gem of yours might be in need of a bit of care," Pitch hinted.

"Gem...?" Tooth was dumbstruck, they all were, until it hit North on the head like a hard metal ball. "No... No no no no  **NO!** " He burst out upon sudden realisation. "You can't touch it! That's impossible..." he said, looking down with wide eyes of worry and shock.

"Well, who said I had to touch it?" He asked rhetorically before disappearing into the shadows again, but not before muttering, "Though that might not have been the 'gem' I was referring to," and with that, he was gone again, and another wave of Nightmares surged, charging at the four Guardians, who desperately fought them off so they could get back to the Pole.

Jack looked up from his hands as he felt movement behind him. "What more do you want?" He asked with a throaty voice. "Oh nothing, just came to see how you were doing," Pitch said as he walked from behind the room to sit at the end of the bed. Jack rolled his eyes and looked down again, clenching his fists weakly, "Go away."

"My my, such a welcoming young boy," Pitch said. "It's no wonder your friends left you."

This made Jack flinch. Physically. "Then why won't you leave me?" He asked, bringing his head up to look at Pitch sideways. He laughed, "No one needs to see me, no one needs to care, I don't know why you people bother to stay here," he said, his voice hoarse. "Just  _go_ , damnit!" He finally attempted a shout,, but what came out sounded more like a strangled scream. Before he knew it, he felt Pitch slide over next to him. He whispered menacingly in his ear, "Maybe it's not us who should go. Maybe, it's  _you._ "

Jack didn't move, but he thought he was right. He didn't shove Pitch away; he just let his body go rigid.  _It's true. There's no point now, everyone probably hates you. You've got nothing to lose now. You've been through so much; why not just end it there and then? Wouldn't it be wonderful? Wouldn't it just be_ perfect _? Even Pitch wants you gone, so why not?_  He thought to himself. When he looked up, Pitch was standing above him. In his hand he held a small dagger made of Nightmare sand. He was smiling, as if he'd waited so long for this.

Jack slowly lifted his hand to take the dagger, hesitating as he let his hand rest on Pitch's, before clenching his fingers around the handle properly. He held the dagger in his hands for a while. No, he wouldn't harm himself. Pitch had done enough of that already. He held the dagger, unmoving. His eyes were shut tight, and he hadn't realised it until the cold splashes dampened his even colder skin, but he was crying. He felt warmth around his hand and realised it was Pitch's hand. He guided Jack's hand over to his chest, over his heart. He was going to do it. One simple push, like a button, and it would end it. The Man in the Moon would let him go, considering all he'd been through. There were no more chances. That would be it. The Guardians would come back and find Jack dead, the new white sheets stained a deep crimson from his blood and his face would be even whiter than it already was.

His heart was beating fast, and he opened his eyes one last time to look up at Pitch. His eyes were that of a lost puppy, abandoned and hurt. He knew Pitch wouldn't do it for him. It was his choice. Only he would take his life, and right now, it was hanging in the balance. Nothing would stop him.

"Just a simple push, it won't hurt, I promise," he heard Pitch say, but he'd already looked down. Tears were streaking down his face. No matter how much he thought the world hated him, he just didn't wish to say goodbye. But he'd made his choice. With his fingers gripping the handle tightly till the whites of his knuckles showed he-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for now! Goodbye! Might not update in awhile because I'm going to be busy with family.
> 
> ...
> 
> OKAY I'M SORRY I'M JUST KIDDING I wouldn't leave ya'll hanging like that. Gosh I am evil. I'll try to update soon, PROMISE! It's almost 12 am here, nighties guys!

**Author's Note:**

> So how was that? Constructive critique is highly appreciated. I hope you enjoy my story! :D


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